Nga Kor Ming Must Go

In Perak, Nga is DAP. If the head is rotten, the whole body smells. This is what I wrote in an earlier posting:

This Nga fellow can scream and rant, but one thing is certain, if not for him his wife would not have got this contract. Reminds me of Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jali, who apparently does not sleep with her husband in not knowing what happened to cowgate. By the way, is his wife the best when it comes to lounge suits. Nga, I believe is a legal chap, perhaps his income is is withering away because of his political involvement, why not brother, with the help of your wife open up a tailoring institute. More money there. But please, I beg you do not make her a sleeping partner.

Now to the funny part. His wife owns the company, but sleeps all the time. Now I know why she wanted help from Nga.

The DAP disciplinary committee has decided to investigate an allegation of abuse of power against Perak DAP secretary Nga Kor Ming.

The decision was made at a central committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur last night, which was chaired by secretary-general Lim Guan Eng. Disciplinary committee chairperson Tan Kok Wai told a press conference after the meeting that a party branch chief in Perak had complained to the committee that Nga had breached party discipline. A pro-Umno blogger has also accused the Taiping MP of instructing the Ipoh City Council to award a contract for lounge suits to a tailoring firm partly owned by his wife, when Nga was state exco in charge of local government in 2008. Nga has denied the allegation and has filed a defamation suit against the blogger. Nga, who is also DAP national assistant treasurer, was not present at last night’s meeting, though it had been reported earlier that he would be present to clarify the matter. "The disciplinary committee received an official complaint and therefore has to investigate. Nga does not need to explain to the central committee," said Tan, adding that Nga would be questioned during the investigation. He hopes to conclude the investigation by next week.

Malaysiakini learnt that the allegation had sparked heated discussion during the meeting, during which several leaders questioned Nga’s absence and the disciplinary committee’s inaction. The first leader to question Nga’s no-show was national vice-chairperson M Kulasegaran, who is known to be Nga’s arch rival in Perak. He said Nga had promised the central committee an explanation. Although Tan later told reporters that Nga was attending a dinner, sources told Malaysiakini that Tan had not informed the central committee about this. According to sources, the baton was then passed to Selangor legislative assembly speaker Teng Chang Khim, who criticised the disciplinary committee’s ineptness in handling the issue. "Teng cited two examples – the misuse of official letterhead by former Klang councillor Tee Boon Hock and Teng’s Twitter comment said to be related to Tee’s issue – and questioned why the disciplinary committee had been swift in investigating these two cases, but slow in probing a matter that had been revealed two weeks ago," an insider said. Another insider said Teng also lambasted Tan’s explanation that he was overseas when the incident took place. "Teng argued that it is not a valid reason or else people will accuse DAP of practising double standards. Lim was irked by his remark and demanded that he not use the phrase ‘double standard’," the source said.

Lim also stressed the matter should be addressed through internal party channels, according to the insider.

Sources also revealed that national publicity chief Tony Pua and Pasir Pinji assemblyperson Thomas Su were present at the meeting and that Pua had called for the issue to be resolved immediately as it has tarnished the party’s image.

In a text message to media today, Nga (right) welcomed the decision of disciplinary committee to hold a hearing into the allegation. "This proves that DAP is a fair and just party. I will give 100 percent cooperation to the committee. As a party member, I totally comply with the party discipline. "I can’t wait to attend the hearing to clear my name as soon as possible."

‘Godfather’ spat resolved

Another central committee member raised the public spat between national chairperson Karpal Singh and deputy secretary-general P Ramasamy, said a source.

But Karpal said the matter is no longer an issue as it has been addressed under the party mechanism. Ramasamy, who is also Penang deputy chief minister, was at the meeting. During the press conference, Tan said the dispute between the Karpal and Ramasamy has been resolved, while Karpal declined comment. Tan said the disciplinary committee would also probe last month’s protest against Johor DAP chief Dr Boo Cheng Hau in Muar by a group of party members. They were unhappy that Boo had planned to field his own candidate to contest the Bentayan state seat. Tan refused to reveal the names of the members involved in the demonstration, saying that they were just grassroots members.